...Rising Temperatures Put Sea Turtles at Risk Sea turtles are said to be one of Earth’s most ancient creatures and the seven species that can be found today have been around for roughly 110 million years, which dates back to when dinosaurs ruled the planet. Their unique shell allows for easy movement through the water and unlike other turtles, sea turtles cannot retract their legs and head into their shells (“Sea Turtle Migration”, 2013). Depending on the species of sea turtle, their diet tends to consist of smaller sea life such as jellyfish, seaweed, crabs, shrimp, sponges, snails and algae. It is also interesting to note that green sea turtles can stay under water for as long as five hours even though the length of a feeding is usually five minutes or less. Their heart rate slows to conserve oxygen and nine minutes may elapse between heartbeats (“Sea Turtle Migration”, 2013). It is often quite difficult to gauge the total population count for sea turtles because both male and juvenile sea turtles do not return to shore once they hatch and reach the ocean, which makes it extremely difficult to keep track of numbers (“Sea Turtle Migration”, 2013). Most of the behavioral information that has been gathered on sea turtles is based off of females and their hatchlings. When females come to shore to lay their eggs they dig out a hole, bury their clutch of eggs and then return to the ocean. The eggs are left unattended to hatch and make their way back to the ocean, which is where...
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...and the species that live within the homes. Some species include fish, insects, reptiles, flowers, grasses, mammals, and trees. One species that in endanger of being whipped out from this planet is the green turtle. The green turtle is a large sea turtle that has a wide smooth carapace or shell. It's also not know for its shell but for the color of its cartilage and fat. In the Eastern Pacific, there is a group of green turtle with a darker shell that the locals around there call them black turtles. The Species is usually found around the shores of Europe and North America. Also the Eastern Pacific green turtle has been known to be found in coastal waters from Alaska to Chile. Just like any other sea turtle, the green turtle migrates long distances between feeding ground to the surface land of which they hatched. Sea turtle have a life span of over 80 years and can grow up to five feet in size which the weight of over 700 pounds. Just like any other sea turtle, green turtle cannot pull its head into its shell. Most adult green turtles are herbivorous and feed off of grasses and algae, while the juvenile turtle ate invertebrates such as crabs, sponges, and jellyfish. So why is it important to help preserve this endangered species? It's important because green turtles feed on sea grasses and algae to maintain the sea grass beds and make them more productive and...
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...First, I decided to do some research on the conservation status of Sea Turtles. According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the global statuses are classified as followed: • Leatherbacks: Vulnerable • Greens: Endangered • Loggerheads: Endangered • Hawksbills: Critically Endangered • Olive Ridleys: Vulnerable • Kemp’s Ridleys: Critically Endangered Sea Turtles are among the list of top endangered species. Of the seven species, six are considered endangered. Among those six species are the Green Sea Turtles. Several factors have contributed to their rate of extinction. These factors include: climate change, oil spills, unmanaged coastal development, illegal trade, human consumption, and predators. According to the WorldWildlife webpage, “Incidental capture by fishing gear is the greatest threat to most sea turtles, especially endangered loggerheads, greens and leatherbacks. This threat is increasing as fishing activity expands” (wwf.org). Upon my research, I found another surprising factor that is currently contributing to sea turtle extinction. I discovered the article, “Invasive algae, pollution cause lethal tumors on sea turtles”. The lethal tumors have been most prevalent in Hawaii’s Green Sea Turtle Species. The tumors are linked to the invasive algae, “Superweed”. The algae grow along an area, where nutrient pollution is not managed regularly. When the sea turtles consume the invasive algae, the amino acids from the algae stimulate...
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...gov/pr/species/turtles/green.htm website, government website so will be reliable [2] http://www.iotn.org/iotn-15-6.php [3] http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2013/10/29/Human-impact-on-sea-turtles-shows-up-in-studies-of-genetic-diversity/UPI-16391383084837/#ixzz2jFew9cIu Biological solutions The Indian Ocean - South-East Asian (IOSEA) Marine Turtle Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) protects 6 marine turtles including the green sea turtle. It is a non-binding intergovernmental agreement that aims to protect, conserve, and recover sea turtles and their habitats in the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia region. [1] This includes the turtles on the coast of Nellore. Graph showing total number of nests protected in Nellore district from 2008 to 2012 February [2] The number of green sea turtles is particularly important for creating a diverse ecosystem since they are the only herbivorous marine turtle and so they transfer nutrients from nutrient-rich areas like sea grass beds to nutrient-poor ecosystems like nesting beaches. This is why many organisations, such as the Inter-American Convention (IAC) for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles, trys to increase their numbers and diversity, so they prevent the sea turtle’s extinction and they can continue to play their beneficial role to their ecosystem. The IAC is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the legal framework for countries in the Americas and the Caribbean to take actions for the benefit of sea turtles. [1] Between...
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...maintain the health of ecosystems while human activity is able to have adverse impacts on both organisms and ecosystems. Sea turtle also plays key role in the sea ecosystem. This essay will indicate the important roles of sea turtles on two sea ecosystem, beaches and marine systems, and negative effects of human activity on the turtle and sea ecosystem. Sea turtles have played vital roles in maintaining the health of the world’s oceans for more than 100 million years. According to Ruckdeschel and Shoop (2006, p.2), there are seven species of sea turtles in the world’s oceans, including flatback, green, hawksbill, Kemp’s ridley, leatherback, loggerhea and olive ridley. The roles of those species consist of maintaining healthy seagrass beds and coralreefs, providing habitat for other marine life, helping to balance marine food webs and facilitating nutrient cycling from water to land. To more specific, there is an influence of sea turtles on seagrass beds. Sea turtles, especially green sea turtles, is an animal eating seagrass. This action of the turtles assist in maintaining the health of the sea grass beds because sea grass needs to be constantly cut short to be healthy and help it grow across the sea floor. Wilson, Miller, Allison & Magliocca. (n.d.). Sea turtles also bring some benefits to Beach Dunes. Sea Turtle Conservancy (2014) has claimed that turtle eggs provide dune plants with the nutrients, which makes dune planes grow up and become stronger. These vital nutrients...
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...The biology of the sea turtle and facors affecting its population Upon first sight of the great sea turtle it might just think that it is like any other turtle. The truth is that marine turtles are beautiful creatures spending a majority of their lives wandering endlessly through our massive ocean. These reptiles have the ability to do amazing things. Some of these things include evolving to a range of purely innate responses to the demands of a changing suite of environments and having remarkable navigations skills for their excursions that may last up to several years. Sea turtles have been in existence for more than 100 million years and researchers have been studying them for great deal of time. During the past 20 years however, the natural history of marine turtles has received growing attention and much has been learned (Bjorndal 19). Instantly you will fall in love with their beauty and majestic way of life. The biology behind these amazing animals causes them stand out from much of the ocean life. There are seven different species of sea turtles. These species include Kemps Ridley, Flatback, Loggerhead, Olive Ridley, Leatherback, Hawksbill, and the Hawaiian Green Turtle (Gardner 2004). Unlike many animals the female sea turtle is generally larger than the males. The main distinction between the two is that the male tends to have a longer tail. The core part of the sea turtle and the part that helps protect them from predators is the shell. The shell grows around the...
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...the sense of the Congress taken from the 106th congress 1st session. Is this any better than what early frontiersmen did? Skinning the buffalo and just leaving the skinned carcass to rot and be wasted? Hundreds of millions of sharks are killed each year only for their fins. Not using the rest of the shark carcass to its fullest potential is unsportsmanlike and wasteful. Shark fin soup, shark fin stew, these are delicacies. They are not a necessity to live and yet the demand is high. They are eaten primarily for the taste of the dish. Must we wait till they become and endangered species before we do something about it? The green sea turtles were killed for their shells and flesh nearly to extinction before we even started to try to stop the killing. Foods like this are not necessarily bad, but we must do it in moderation. Don’t have another green sea turtle event. If there is something good, do you use it up till it’s all gone? Once it’s gone no one will be able to use that good thing again. In this case it’s shark fining. Will we fin them until there is no more? Future generations will neither see the sharks nor taste dishes like this again. Maybe if we use more of the shark’s body and kill less then we will be able to have the best of both worlds. SHARK FINNING 2 We do not necessarily have to stop killing the sharks altogether, but if we keep on...
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...The endangered Hawksbill Sea Turtle is found in the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian Oceans (World Wildlife, 2018). Not too keen on deep water, found mostly near the coast line. Not being as large as other seat turtles they still grow up to be big to us. Known to eat sponges, sea anemones, and jellyfish (World Wildlife, 2018). Weighing in at 90-150 lbs, Length of 30-35 inches. Feeding on mostly sponges there pointed beaks to get them from tight spots (World Wildlife, 2018). Their benefit is they help maintain the health of coral reefs and seagrass beds (World Wildlife, 2018). Hawksbills Maintain the health of coral reefs. Removing sponges and providing better access for reef fish to eat (World Wildlife, 2018). Their colored and patterned shells...
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...Hey there do you know anything about leatherback sea turtle? They are very cool animals. Let’s get started. Overall Leatherbacks are sea turtles and the only turtle with no shell. Also, the leatherback sea turtle is the heaviest turtle out there. It can weigh up to 2,000 lb. and grow up to 11 ft. They can swim up to 5km to 8km. Although, they can swim fast, they cannot swim backwards. This is why many of them get caught in fishing nets. Turtles breath oxygen, but they spend most of their time in water. There main adaptations are there flippers, shell, and jaw. Food Leatherback's eat mainly jellyfish because they don't have teeth. Eating hard animals could break their jaw. Also, they are immune to jellyfish's sting which means they eat jellyfish. They also eat small crustaceans too. They are mainly predators unless there is a tiger shark in the area. The relationship would be leatherbacks to jellyfish. If there is a tiger shark it would be tiger shark to leatherback. Their food chain would go from seaweed (producers), small fish (primary consumer), jelly fish (secondary consumer), leatherback sea turtle (territory consumers) and hermit crab (decomposer). There are no...
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...Jinz protection turtle is essential place of tourism production in Oman. As Oman daily newspaper mention that the number of tourism visited this place around 30 thousand. The following aspect the reasons of important tourism in this place: 1. The major aim is to protect turtles breeding and inform tourism the way to save extinct animal that change behavior and attitude of visitor. 2. Reinforce national and local income by increase number of tourism and startup business and. For example; hotels and restaurant. 3. Good reputation sine Oman protect environment and Wildlife. Ras Al Jinz protection turtle attract all group age notwithstanding according to Al Hinai how work in this place he said that the most visitor are old age and comes as group to gather. The most people visit this place who get interest when see wildlife. Needs and motivated play an important role in the mechanics of tourism. The most wants of tourism are transportation, activates, accommodation, physiological need for example food and water, security and safety and this needs already Oman have and social need that means accept by population. The pest time visit its place between middle march and November because of low temperature and time to see small turtle going out eggs. There are many character that attract tourism. First, natural attraction. Ras Al Jinz is attraction beach that provide some of words most necessary nesting place have four out of seven extinct turtles. Ras Al Jinz beach...
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...in her personal testimony, “Turtles inevitably became deeply rooted in the culture, featured in local dishes and even on the back of the 10 cents.” The Caymans Island worship the turtles and never was ashamed of consuming the turtles to practice their customs. Eating turtles go as far as the first settler in the U.S. More so that it was introduced in the first Thanksgiving. Stephanie Butler wrote in her article, “it (turtle meat) was president Taft’s favorite food.” Turtle meat appeared on a lot of the presidential dinners. It was also served during the revolutionary war. Turtle meat became popular for most of is texture and flavor. Stephanie then writes, “turtle is said to contain seven types of mean, each reminiscent of pork, chicken...
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...There is over 350 wildlife bird species including many species of birds, such as spoonbills, egrets, herons, wood storks, numbers of smaller migratory birds and many more. Land dwellers that inhibit the Everglades include alligator and crocodile reptiles, Florida panther, Burmese python, West-Indian Manatee, sea turtles, and raccoon and etc. As far endangers species, Florida panther is considered most endangered, because there are or maybe as little as 100 panther remaining in the natural wild today (National Wildlife Federation,...
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...found in the Everglades Plants The Everglades is home to a wide diversity of plants. The two million acre wetland ecosystem is inhibited by wetland plants that include sawgrass, bladderwort, cypress, mangrove trees, and others that serve as primary food sources and shelters for many consumers of this habitat (National Wildlife Federation, 2012). Animals The Everglades is home to numerous species of animals including those native to the lands, threatened, and considered endangered. Wildlife populaces include over 350 bird species including the Great Blue heron, great egret, and wood stork. Land dwellers that inhibit the Everglades include Alligator and crocodile reptiles, Florida panther, Burmese python, West-Indian Manatee, sea turtles, and raccoon just to name a few. The Everglades most endangered animal is the Florida panther, of which approximately only 80 now survive (National Wildlife Federation, 2012). Organisms in the Everglades Producers Consumers Decomposers Monocotyledons Manatee Bacteria Saw grass Alligator Gar Fungi Pond apple tree...
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...Sea Turtles Sea turtles are amazing creatures and have been around for a long time. They are large marine animals with a leathery shell and flippers that come on shore to lay eggs. A lot of times humans mistaken these sea turtles to be true animals. Including abilities and characteristics of sea turtles humans don’t think of sea turtles to be so close to us. Sea turtles are really old animals and are very important. Sea turtles have a major effect on the environment around them. In the first place, sea turtles’ senses and speed have adapted to help them survive in the turtles’ environment .In the book, Sea Turtles an Extraordinary Natural History of Some Uncommon Turtles it says; “Sea turtles are not like normal fish, they are always holding their...
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...Reptiles of San Salvador (Many of the reptiles mentioned here are marked appear in the Bahamas but not 100% sure they live in the particular island of San Salvador due to the lack of detail about both reptiles and San Salvador.) There are many kind of reptiles live in San Salvador or the larger Bahamas Area. The three major groups are the Lizards/Iguanas, Snakes and the Turtles. Lizards native to The Bahamas including Bahamian Rock Iguanas, Curly-tailed Lizards, Blue-tailed Lizards, Anoles, Geckos. Snakes including Bahamian boas, Brown racer, Pygmy boa, Blind snakes and Thread snakes. Turtles including a wide variety of marine turtles and freshwater turtles. Here are some examples of the reptiles. San Salvador iguana/Cyclura rileyi San Salvador iguana live in the island of San Salvador, Acklins and Exuma. The length is about millimeter and weight about 1.25 kilogram. Male are generally bigger than female and male has leg hole to release pheromones and hormones. 95% of their food are vegetables, flowers, leaves. The other 5% are eggs or dead crabs and bugs. Male San Salvador iguana are extremely territorial and would fight very hard over territory. Northern Bahamian rock iguana/Cyclura cychlura Cyclura cychluras are large in size. The total length could reach 150 centimeter for male ones. As the name suggests, it live in the north islands of the Bahamas. Majorly in the bushes and low forests near the sea. It mostly eat flowers, fruits and leaves, sometimes the body or...
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